Suspect: Police have released this e-fit of one of the five men accused of the gang-rape of a 13-year-old girl as she walked home, leaving her so traumatised she could not tell anyone for three years

A 13-year-old girl who was gang-raped by five men was left so traumatised by the ‘terrifying assault’ that she could not tell police or even her own mother for three years.

The schoolgirl was attacked as she walked home through an alleyway and was dragged into a nearby field where she was assaulted.

The five male attackers, who were all described as being between 25 and 35 years old, struck as the girl walked through the narrow path in Rayleigh, Essex, at around 9.30pm on February 24, 2011.

However, the young
victim had kept a three-year silence about the attack before telling her mother who urged her to report the case to the
police.

Detective constable Danny Cooper said: 'This was a terrifying assault by five men on a girl who was aged 13 at the time.

'She was traumatised and remained scared of the men until she found the courage to tell her mother what had happened.'

Specially trained officers from Essex Police’s Sexual Offences Investigation Team have now interviewed the victim and released an E-fit of one of the main suspects.

DC Cooper added: 'We want to hear from anyone in the area of the Birds Estate who has any information about this incident or from anyone who can identify the man in the E-fit who was the main perpetrator.